





























* V > » „ 

t * 



A < *u, 

A ‘ ^-r tL O *«5 

o ^ 
V ^ * 

<o* *•/£/♦ v> v »:>. 

V ^-‘i»-'* *v-av*x/ .••*■*• *" ■* - 



: W ; 

• y»'^ r . J §fe'^ /o .^""V 

♦ AX * A* <y» % ' A v t^' v >l v 4 -CL y ’ ri* «* * 

* «...•* ^ %.'*'• •••’ <v '••*• / . 

X y i. / 0 t$> (V , ° M a * <3 At -• . * <*0 _ c r*^ <* ~o * 

• * *£> (. v * r^rv * O J'^/Y»x. + Vcr ^ •jsKVvY^ a* ^ <N * 



* V* 'Pp 

*6 A? V «2> # 

- V % 





W 



^ vT^ 

<d V 


%,. Ss&fk. %..«/ .^-. % y ,to. \/ .••***• * 

’ ‘ a-^ V'erntf* c 

* a.^ ^ oA/JiL\iv ^ 


' >5* ^ ' 

r VV 





r ,•••% "> 


.V T . 0 "' , 0 ^ <> v” t ,,# ' CV 

> ^ ^ *♦ A^ *V\^^*° ^ 

V s . ox 

vP ^> />^i— r^cx , > > - ^ssjz-h///s? * * ^ * YyV/AM^S^ * c, -p 

* X?' *o '*75?T*’ a o '•••• A \ ' ••■■' A 

o^ o 0 " ° -» ^ _^ V ^ ' • , c 0 ^ . c ° ^" A °o 4 ’ 

jV S'tf((l2£>C -> " ,*aF5SW a »N 

O <JA <T> 4 

O > • /=*=; my^y O 

)y 0 ^ 

o’ %'-.^\^‘ . V'^’V’.--^*** 

„t.o, o .v ,*VL% ^ V ^ 

•• - -^*. %/ /Jfet ^ -^' *■ c * 


* Xo. ► ^ 

o C? * * < 

^ °o "* 

^ *« « 0 aV ^ 


• * v -v 

■*. A > 


v v, V 



'^f>. « 4 

V* 0^ 


O. 




K^. r ■ri' 




P VG 


^ -*^0* 





C* r’ 


- vv : ^ -,., 

1 ca \d ♦T^T 4 A <r. 'o.»* .0' ^ '*.*• v 

0~ c 0 " O „ r o AT •*• *■» /0 <" v? Vt> V yr???,-' TA 

, ° ' r *P, « o'l'^SV- ^ ^ 

- v- cv oV 


?y 0 ^ 




**■ ^c/yir&f + r\ j * <1 r O +^~CCM *> ^ * 

■ :,,■ ’ a>° V'*.tT= y o* *•■’• n »° ,.., % 

av . • • . '»^> a> - t • o. r> 4 V J s 5 — '* / 


^0 V 

o' 

__ ^ .. ^ ^ 

■% 4. 

-9 * «, v 

Jr* vP V •™™xvn. 

* A <. '■•■• .0^ 

-i- 4 , • ^4,*, n#. c u ... o 

v^-\/ %*"y.. 

^ \/ . 1 * O A^ S * <y 

^ A?' ^ ^ / 







^0* 3 
x ^ 


A* * 


O **o ^ A^ *A A.» < 


" +$» ^ 
r .>/ * « 


*. ^ 

*v 

...-.- „ —.—- - -- .. 

• ^ ^ »- 

r- V<C' • . 

^ . ^xxu^///y, x . . .^/ar^vv, . 

^> ot/^xj-/ V V, 

b A ^ 'o. k * ,0 **•••* 

0^ c ° w °’t ^o at • u 1 • * o ^ ^ c)^ ^ t 











* ^ A? 4 

1° ^ * 

J'V 

- aV^. : 



* j£~ + 

°o ^TT,*’ .0° V J 

^ V f’*o. aP^ ^ 

;• V >r 


* U A 

* <z? 




4 




-A 

O v c° 




♦ *^\\v\st * * *" <^Yy//PjSr * /> «n 

°^> * •' 1 * f 0 ^ ** ° " 0 0 0c ^ *'*<•»* ’ A 0 ^ ' * o'„o 9 ^ 

X VT ,*V% *> A n**°. *0 A 0^ -> V % r’“ 

•• ^ a *y®v. ^ a .Wa.% ^ a* //S§fer. ^ , 

° ^ °^E^ r • 

_ . * v % : .^R^ /% -.^R: ^ : $jR*’ /\ \ 

-** yC* <* '°• k * Jr *'As* A '••»* <6* V ' 

.<* *W^, ^ ^ ° J* siazZ:- ^ * c ^ 




•3+ .A 

o V 




o V 




*. 0 ^ "ISiS* 0 * 

r> _0 ^ <A o .^W*S _o 

cv A v .•V'* b V • »•«- cv a0 v - 

• -*^fe' w : M%-. ^ : 

• A\ vTO* /%. 'JiSK- ■/% ; - 


P *7 




V 


0 V o. */■?., * A 


\y- ,~i> 
O V 


<V 'o . 

« v .*■'*- "<$*. (A o " 0 

•*• l (, U .° r -sSNv <- U 




O. > * \0 *7*, 

^ 0 H o ' ^ 

^ a? »!V:* ^ v % 

* : %<? ^ *• 

; e y\, \Wf; 

#* 4 ' \ > w * ^ j _ 

> L ' » <^* aV « » ° v ^ 

o 



o V 


V ' b, 'O . » 

<r 



^ c 




o, %>-’■/■ 

" ^ ^ S 



^ & 
o V 


. 

* A '- r ' r% 

» '-Cj>. • 

•* -c. v cf* ** 

r. * s A <^ '..*• Jy 

t • '•'*'» ^ f 0 ^ 0 0 N . 0 *. % 

A *jpvr%3, ’ v v • 


<> *' # • » * A° 

^ s-PJ^'% ^ c° °o 

*. «. /;////^> * ' 5 ^>, « ' 

>v° ^ *~^SIS Vo * ^ 

0 ^ ^ o * c *Wf‘* , S S> ^i. '■^'V^ 3 "* ’ o '* c ^^ aP , + 7) 

* o „ o 9 o * . , , * ^0 ^ * o „ o ’ O s- 8 ( , . 0 

*lV', x> v % *«•»- CX aP ,‘>1% ^ V % *’•«- c\ <0 -s 






*' 

-o..- .6* ^ '''.Vi ^ A 

n,v 0^0 ^ 

6 x 0 o ° r _ ^^ O 

Kyr C • O 

^ 0 * • 



’vPS 


• o 

♦ <y & - 



* b- ’ 

: v«^ v * 



* v 


vP s 0 

* V & 



V 


• C^> 

* 0 ? v 0> 

•4 -OA c£* ^ ^ 

<, <* <o v a 

^ V . C° °0 J* y*MzL'„ %r 



O » A 


> ?v° ^ 

v‘^V....V*-\y- 

- ^ ^ *- 

* rS 

♦ 

^ *0 *^rrs s ' a <v a 

^ O 0^ Sor/r???^ ’ -yr 



* ^ 0* 


* • o- c>. i0' 5*.M'* 'V V' - ’ * 0 




'•• ! ‘ ^ ... '<, ”•• 
- oV v 




w-o 


• J , -% ” 

* V <?> 0 




V 0 

^>. «, *• 

• *$* ’$' * J 

* A ^r, 

4 A ^ -'. 

° * * " A° w 4 * * 

0 V o w o _ 

-r <_ Vj « . O 





4 o 

0 -qA 

* K > «• 

• <i r o >■ '-Z4*' — *' • 

• ^ V *•■'• A 0 



«/> 4>> 


b V 


^0 *7 


* >P 'TV 

* * 1 •> * A® * 0 K 0 ° A> 

0 v> 

1 vv 

* A 

* V 

<v '•.-»* «G V \3 A < 'O., 

1-v » o N o t ( A 

A ^ • * • - * X O O ° * O ^ -V v , ♦ -5» 

Vsr W • ^ o U 1 ' ♦ <jP//7/^bs ^ rjr 

^ * js/zz%*. - *v ^ oV^LV- ^ <* <p. 


\ * •Tm * ’ a°° ^ ■'* ^ 

.S-O, ^<A 0^ ,*V> "> V % , 

o -%> />> srf$$hr. ^ .a * 

0 ^ 




<P xjfe- V A 

, P .* 

VV V 



o V 





\0 * 7 * 

> <K " 

J. _. A* A 

O *■ ^0 -> 

o ^0 V ^ 

’•o- o. vy s\v % b- v v 

- V. V A 


■S s V '. ^BESf?"" A"-!-. 
















































































































Submit QTotem Hcgcnbs 

of tbr JJortfMueSt Coast Country 
Ity #ne of tfje Snbtatts 


E98 

T<*SS^ 


OOPYRiok: .T-t.ij' 





OECL'I 1914 



******************************* 


Snbtatt Potent Hegen&g 
of tfjc J^ortfitoESt Coast Country 
******************************* 


By William Shelton 
Tulalip Indian Reservation , Washington 


I AM an Indian of 45 years past. I 
am of Snohomish, part Skay-whah- 
mish, Puyallup and Wenatchee tribes. 
I was raised by my parents on 
the Tulalip Reservation, Wash¬ 
ington, and taught the Indian 
schooling advices of the Indian 
race by my fa ther and mother 
and some old uncles and grand 
uncles of mine. They wanted 
me to grow up a big, smart In¬ 
dian, to be able to talk and lead my peo¬ 
ple. They taught me to be a big Indian 
doctor until I was 17 years old, when I 
began to change my mind. During all 
that time I was taught the old Indian 
ways. Finally I made up my mind to 
go to the Tulalip Mission School run by 
priests and sisters. I thought to myself 
that maybe sometimes we will need the 
white people’s education and it might be 
a good thing to learn a little of the white 
race before I became a man. So I went 
to school when I was 18 years old. I 
stayed in the Mission School until I was 
21 years old. Very little education I 
learned—just enough to read a little and 
to understand the English language. I 
found a difference between our schooling 
and the English at that time, so I used 
both the schooling I had in Indian and 
English. 

I was appointed as sawyer at the old 
mill at Tulalip Agency and I found ( it 
awfully nice to be with white people and 
friends. I soon got so I could run a saw 
and turn out lumber. I learned to do 
repairing, how to file saws and run ma¬ 
chinery. 


Then I got so I could do most any 
thing. I got so I could do carpenter 
work, millwrighting and a little of every¬ 
thing. Then, after that, I worked under 
two or three different agents who encour¬ 
aged me right along to do the work. I 
am using both the Indian people’s and 
the white people’s language and I get 
along very nicely on both sides. I got 
so I could handle my people and I got so 
I could get along with my good friends— 
the white people—all by trying and doing 
all I can in my work. (I got so I could 
see that the white people’s advice was 
pretty near the same thing as the Indians’ 
and that I must try to do my work right; 
not to cheat, but to be square and try to 
get along). 

I saw right there that the two races 
were pretty near alike, only that our 
people don’t understand the English lan¬ 
guage and the ruling of the good friends. 
There is a broken link between my race 
and the white people. So I thought I 
better look back and talk to the older 
people that are living and try to explain 
our history by getting their totems and 
carve them out on the pole like the way it 
used to be years ago. So I went around 
gathering the old Indians and talking to 
them in the genuine Indian language 
I learned when I was young. I used this 
language to them to make them under¬ 
stand why I wanted their totems carved 
on the pole to show our history—so our 
good friends would see the ruling foun¬ 
dation of all Indians around the sound. 

We had a regular meeting, and the 
members of the different tribes talked 



4 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


about the totems that were going to be 
carved on the pole. The old friends of 
mine understood, and each one of them 
got up and made a speech, telling how 
nice it was going to be to have their to¬ 
tems carved out so the people would see 
the Indian beliefs. It shows from the 
pole that they understood, and shows 
that they had good sense to be willing to 
do that, for that is the best we could do. 
as it would show out so everybody could 
see. That is how you can see the totem 
pole that I carved out with the courage 
of the older Indians that are living to 
show our young children that are now in 
school, who never saw anything like that 
before, for these totems and medicine men 
have been dropped for several years. 
They are never seen, for the Indians 
thought that the best they could do was 
to drop all their ways, or else never get 
along with the white people. That was 
their belief. But I am glad that we have 
a little of the Indian history and have 
carved it out on the pole to show a little 
of the Indian belief. 

There were many, many times that my 
father told me to go out to a certain place 
at night when all was dark and you 
couldn’t see hardly anything, but I dare 
not say I couldn’t get there. It had to be 
done when he mentioned the place where 
I was to go. I must get there through 
th edark, even though cold and naked. 
He used to give me a stick—a home 
stick they used to call it; a little stick 
that is known by everyone around home— 
for me to carry and leave at the place or 
point mentioned to prove that I got there. 
I had that to carry many times in differ¬ 
ent places. 

The hardest time I had was at the 
Straits between Port Angeles and Neah 
Bay Reservation. My father sent me 
out late in the evening while everybody 
was asleep. I slept with an old man by 
the name of Weallup. The rule was that 
if I should go out, I must go quietlv so 
nobody would know that I left the house. 
It w'as against the Indian ruling for a boy 
or any young man going out at night to 
make any noise. So I slipped away from 





William Shelton. 

the old man that I slept with and left the 
house without anyone knowing that I 
was out. I traveled fully a half mile on 
the mountain side that leads right down 
to the salt water where there were barn¬ 
acles on all the stones and all strange 
places, but I was told to go to a certain 
place and get there, so I did. The 
tide was high, so I had to swim around 
those sharp rocks in the cold water to 
get to the place that I was told to reach. 
This happened when I was 12 years old, 
and was the hardest place I ever got to. 
The idea of my father was for me to find 
a strong totem that would make me a 
brave, smart man; that’s what he want¬ 
ed me to be. But I believe that even if 
I had learned a strong totem at the time, 
I wouldn’t use it now, for it is a thing 
that couldn’t get along with the white 
race laws. 

I believe that we all should learn so 
we could work like the white people in 
some days that are coming. I believe 
that it is a good example for the young 
children that are growing up to see my 
work and to read my history, for I am 
poor; have but very little of the white 
people’s schooling, but it shows that we 
could learn and do things like our friends 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


5 


if we wanted to. And it shows right 
here that we need the courage to learn, 
for that is all that carries me along—the 
courage of my good friends. Without 
that it is easy to slip back into the old In¬ 
dian ways. I hope that we will have the 
courage all the time to be able to be 
with our good friends some day that is 
coming. 

I. The Twin Lizards. 

John English. 

U P THE Snohomish River is a place 
by the name of Hoh-wee-yah, a 
little mountain. John’s father 
sent him up there when a small boy and 
the first time he went there he came to a 
little stream of water. The first thing 
after he bathed in this steam he met was a 
little bird by the name of Huah-uts-quah. 
This bird told him that there were two 
twin brother lizards that wanted to meet 
him at a certain place around this Hoh- 
wee-yah. So John went home and the 
next night he went there again. While 
watching for these lizards, and all the 
while trying to imagine what and how 
they were going to look like, he soon 
heard a noise like a slide of rocks coming 
down from Hoh-wee-yah. Soon he saw 
the twin brothers coming out from the 
mountain looking like fire and getting 
closer and closer. Then he thought of 
what the bird told him and went right 
up to them and these great lizards spoke 
of themselves and told him that they were 
great and brave, and that their home 
was right among the rocks, and that 
they were tough animals for they could 
stand any kind of wound. Each one of 
them had cuts on both sides of their 
bodies. Then these two lizards started 
in and sang their tunes to Koh-weets and 
began to act and dance around, telling 
Koh-weets that these twin lizards were 
going to be with him all the time; that 
it did not matter how much he would be 
cut up, it would never kill him. While 
he was with the great lizards Koh- weets 
thought of what his father often told 
him about them, the great totems, and he 


was careful to listen to the tunes that the 
great lizards were teaching him so he 
would not forget him. After that the 
great lizards went back to their home in 
the little mountain and Koh-weets went 
down to his home. The rule was that he 
was not supposed to be happy, but very 
quiet. They say that is a sign to the old 
folks that he must have met a totem of 
some kind, but they don’t dare ask him 
until he becomes a man. Then he will 
sing the tune the great lizards taught 
him right in a big potlatch or big meet¬ 
ing to show that he is a powerful man. 
Koh weets is quite an old man and to 
this day he still thinks that the only 
thing which keeps him up is this great 
totem of his. 

II. The Black Fish. 

Dan Sam. 

W HEN he was a boy his father 
and mother both died. Dan 
then lived with his uncle, who 
was teaching and training him to be a 
medicine man. He did all he could to 
find a totem, but for quite a while he 
never saw any sign of a totem of any 
kind. So one night he went out again. 
This was at the mouth of the Snohomish 
River. He heard the roar of water just 
like at a falls. He went right to where 
the sound was and there a black fish was 
down below the falls—a great black fish 
playing around in the water. At times 
the water would become quiet and the 
black fish would go up on the upper side 
of the falls and play around up there and 
turn himself into a small black fish. As 
soon as he drops down to the other side 
of the falls he would turn himself into a 
big black fish. This boy sat down watch¬ 
ing him, taking it all in, and when the 
black fish stopped playing it came near 
the shore and started in telling the boy 
of his action and that he was a powerful 
fish. He said: "There is nothing stronger 
than I, and you see how I am acting and 
how I could be a large black fish and 
how I could be a small one every time I 
get up above the falls. I could travel so 


6 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


fast that it would make the water boil 
like a falls.” He asked the boy, “Are you 
looking for me”? The boy said yes. 
"All right, I am going to be with you and 
you see how I am acting. When you be¬ 
come a man, if you should make a totem 
stick you can cut the stick like I am and 
I will teach you my song. I could cure a 
sick person. It doesn’t matter how low 
he might be. So whenever you are doc¬ 
toring a sick person don’t forget to use 
water for I am going to be with you all 
the time.” Dan Sam is about 75 or 80 
years old now. 

Ill. The Two-Headed Cougar. 
Willapoint Tom. 

ILLAPOINT TOM met a great, 
powerful, double headed cougar 
at Mount Rainier at one time 
when he was a boy going along with some 
hunters. At the time, the grown men 
were hunting for elk and bear, but he 
was hunting for a totem. During all 
the time that he was there around the 
mountain he was trying to meet a great 
spirit of some kind. So one evening he 
met this double-headed cougar and at 
first he thought that it was going to eat 
him up. Finally he thought of what his 
father used to tell him. If he should see 
anything that would look bad to him, 
not to run away from it for it might be a 
great totem. So he stood and watched 
this great double-headed cougar, and 
while he was watching him one head 
disappeared and the cougar was traveling 
with but one head like any other animal. 
Willapoint Tom stood there and the 
cougar walked right up to him. He 
became frightenened when this great 
cougar came right up to him, but he 
thought of what his father used to tell 
him. Pretty soon he spoke to the great 
animal saying that he was looking for 
him and the cougar started talking to 
him just like a human being would do. 
He asked the boy if he was looking for a 
totem. The boy told him he was and 
that he had been looking for a long time 
trying to find a powerful totem. The 


0 



Tulalip Totem Pole 
West Side 




INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


cougar told him that he was a powerful 
totem himself. He had two heads and 
that he beat all other totems. He could 
have two heads if he wanted to, or he 
could have just one, as he chose. He 
told the boy that he could cure a sick 
person and that if a wound was filled 
with blood he could suck all the blood 
out of it. If one head couldn’t do it the 
other was sure to suck all the blood from 
a person’s wound of any kind. “That is 
just what I could do. Heal it up quick¬ 
ly. And if you are looking for me I 
will be with you and you will do some 
doctoring, but you must always use your 
own mouth just as I do.” And Tom has 
been doctoring ever since he became a man 
and is well known as a good Indian medi¬ 
cine man. He is about 100 years old. 
The great cougar tells him that he is go¬ 
ing to live a long time and when he cuts 
a totem he can have the double headed 
cougar. 

IV. Three Lucky Totems. 

John Farrensby. 

U P THE Skagit River about a mile 
or two above Mount Vernon was 
built a big Indian house: Potlatch 
house. This house is great. There were 
totems in every post of the building. 
During the summer-time the people 
generally moved down to Whidby Island 
or Coupeville for fishing, or some other 
things they did then. 

Farrensby was quite a small boy when 
his mother died. His home was within 
a mile or two of this great big Indian 
potlatch house. When John’s mother 
died his father told him, "Now just think 
of how you are fixed. No one to look 
after you. We are poor. Now we have to 
just try to do the very best we can 
and you will have a chance to learn more 
about totems, for you are young. You 
must try to do all you can to find a gotod 
totem for yourself. Don’t depend on me. 
Now I want you to go out and look for a 
totem”. So Sahqualk, or John Farrens¬ 
by, thought it best for him to go down 
towards this big potlatch house. 


There was nobody in the house. They 
were all out on their summer trips. The 
first time Johnny went there he neither 
heard nor saw anything around the house 
and went home, for there was nothing 
doing. The next night he again went 
down to the same place for he thought he 
might learn something that would be of 
use to him out of this great big Indian 
potlatch house, so he would be like the 
older people that owned this big house 
when he became a man. The next night 
he again went there; went around the 
house down to the river. He thought 
that a totem might be down at the river; 
but nothing doing, so he came back up 
the bank. Finally he saw three men, all 
of different height, walking from the 
building down to the river. He went to¬ 
ward them and asked who they were. 
The three little men answered by saying 
they were brothers, that they belonged to 
this big house as a totem. Squa-dalich, 
Johnny Farrensby, thought surely it must 
be a totem for him. At the time he was a 
little afraid of these boys so he was sure 
they were totems. Johnny was sure there 
was nobody in the house when he passed. 

Johnny said to them that he was an 
orphan boy, that his mother died, and 
that he went around looking for a totem. 
These three little men replied, “Here we 
are. We are a totem ourselves. We 
are a lucky totem. We can read people’s 
minds. We can see far. We look for 
anything that is lost and we can find it. 
We always are well fixed. Are you look¬ 
ing for us?” Johnny replied, “Yes, I am 
looking for you”. Well those three totem 
beys told him that “We are going to be 
with you, but listen, when you become a 
man, if you should make a totem you 
want to be careful that you cut it out as 
three lucky totems. I can do wonderful 
work myself”, said the larger totem. The 
smallest brother of the three spoke quick¬ 
ly, “No, I am greater than all my brothers 
for I can do better work than they so I 
always want to do the work and they 
watch me.” They all rushed toward 
Johnny to tell him their ways of work. 
So the smaller totem told Johnny his tune 


8 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


and how he could play any time. He 
told Johnny when he carved out a totem 
pole he should explain that they are 
brothers all together. They were harm¬ 
less, and they wouldn’t hurt anybody. 
Honest totems that bring a man to good, 
lucky ways, and make him an honest and 
respected man. 

After that Johnny Farrensby was still 
looking for a totem. He was not satis¬ 
fied with these three little lucky totems 
he learned. Three or four months after 
he had learned of the three lucky totems 
he went up on the north fork of the Ska¬ 
git River below Mount Vernon, way back 
in the woods on a hill, wondering if he 
could find more totems. He was fast, had 
nothing to eat, was trying to be clean, so 
he would be able to meet any other totem. 
So while he was on the hillside, a dry and 
gravelly place, he fell asleep. He awaken¬ 
ed and beside him stood a little man. 
The little man told him that he was a 
lizard and that he liked to be with Johnny 
if Johnny would have him. The lizard told 
Johnny that he was a great little lizard. 
He turned himself into a lizard so Johnny 
would see that he really was a lizard. 
All this time Johnny was listening closely 
taking in all that he said. After a while 
Johnny wondered whether to say that he 
wanted him for a totem when the great 
lizard told him that he was Johnny’s 
grandfather. That he belonged to John¬ 
ny Farrensby’s grandfather. “I am your 
grandfather”, the little lizard said to 
Johnny. “'I am a great totem of your 
grandfather; I would like to be yours if 
you would have me. I am mean; I can 
stand off any other totem of other people, 
I don’t care who they are or what they 
are”. So Johnny thought to himself 
that it was funny that this lizard talked 
the human language though nothing but 
a little animal, so he told the lizard that 
he would be glad to have the totem of his 
grandfather and at the same time have 
him for protection. So the little lizard 
told him of his action, taught him the 
songs and tunes of a mean little animal 
lizard and it now shows on the totem pole 
that he is protecting the three lucky, 


harmless totems. He is on there for the 
protection of the three lucky totems, Squa- 
dalich. 

V. The Snake. 

Szue-Szue. 

T HIS was years ago when Szue-Szue, 
a poor Indian boy, was left an or¬ 
phan, with no one to look after 
him. He was compelled to work his own 
way through life, and his most intimate 
friends advised him to get out into the 
world and rough it—to be a little man 
and try to look for a strong totem. The 
poor boy took their advice, and night 
after night would go out in search of this 
strong totem that would be of some help 
to him when he became a man. One 
day he went out through the woods from 
Mukilteo, where he searched in vain for 
some days for a totem. Finding no to¬ 
tem there he came down to the beach be¬ 
tween Mukilteo and Edmonds, where he 
took a good cold bath in the bay. He 
then traveled for some days without a 
thing to eat, until he reached a small 
stream of flowing water. That night he 
thought he had better go home to his 
good friends, who thought that Szue-Szue 
had died somewhere out in the woods, for 
he remained too long; but no one knew 
where he had gone. Toward morning 
poor Szue-Szue started for home, but 
had only gone to the next point when he 
saw lightning from the high hill toward 
Skagit Head. 

The boy then began to do some think¬ 
ing while watching the lightning, won¬ 
dering what kind of totem this was going 
to be, when down came a big slide from 
the hillside and the earth dropped into 
the bay. Poor Szue-Szue thought of 
what his friends had told him; that he 
was poor and he must try and look for a 
strong totem, so he stayed near the great 
big slide watching for a great totem, and 
suddenly out came a great snake right 
behind the falling earth. The boy went 
right up to it and said, “I have been wait¬ 
ing for you”. The great snake said to 
him, “Dbahl-ahziel-beehuh! Oh my In- 


<0 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


9 





View of U. S. Indian School at Tulalip, Washington—site of Shelton Totem Pole. 


dian boy! I am a great. snake. My 
home is underground. I am a powerful 
snake when I get angry. I can travel 
without my head. I could be cut into 
many pieces, but that wouldn’t hurt me. 
All that I have to do is to go under¬ 
ground and I will be all together again. 
I never will die. My breath is very 
powerful. No other totem can possibly 
beat me.” 

Szue-Szue said, “You, are to be my 
totem. I have been looking for you all 
the time.” The snake answered, “I am 
going to be with you all the time and 
you are to be a great man.” 

The poor boy Szue-Szue went home to 
his good friends. When his friends saw 
him they were sure that he had found a 
strange totem by the way he was acting. 
He worked his way up right in with older 
people when he became a man. He told 
the people of his great totem and proved 
that he had a strong totem snake that 
came out from the hillside. From this 
time on all the people were afraid of that 
and respected him. 


VI. The Bear and Man. 

George Swinomish. 

H E NEVER met a totem while he was 
young until after he had married. 
His wife died and the man felt very 
low and could think of nothing but death. 
He didn’t care to live any longer, and he 
was wondering how he could get rid of 
himself. So the next day he went out 
to the foot of the mountain on the main¬ 
land to die. After ten days walking 
without a meal, he thought that it would 
be better for him to die suffering that way, 
so he kept on walking, moving along from 
place to place, from creek to creek, in all 
lonely places, with no other people near 
by, nothing but wild animals. After the 
tenth day he met a man that looked like a 
real Indian, with his black hair cut square 
and his body painted red all over. This 
man stopped George and asked, “Areyou 
looking for me?” Auch-quah-laduh, or 
George Swinomish, thought to himself 
that he had better find out what kind of a 
man this was, for he wasn’t looking for a 




10 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


totem. He was looking for death; but 
anyhow he said, "Yes, I am looking for 
you”. The man told him, "You come 
along with me and I will show you my 
playground”. George went along with 
him. They came to the place where there 
was nothing but wild trees and wild moss 
on the ground with a big hole full of 
water, just like a well, right in the middle 
of this mossy ground. The man told 
George that he was also a bear. “My 
name is Chad-club. I am a powerful 
animal. I can change my ways into three 
acts. Now you saw me as a man and now 
I will change myself into a bear”, and 
there he was, in his second act, standing 
as a big chad-club, a mean-looking animal 
grinding and showing his teeth to show 
how mean he really was. “Now 1 will show 
you another act that I can do.” The 
bear jumped right into the water. He 
was gone for a little while and came out 
as a sea otter. “This is my third act. I 
can be a man, I can be a bear and I can 
be a sea otter whenever I wish.” Well, he 
came out and danced around this hole 
just as a bear would dance around singing 
his tune. 

George Swinomish sat around by this 
playground in this lonely country, listened 
closely to all that the great animal was 
teaching him-his war tunes and powerful 
songs. After that George wanted to know 
if he dared ask this great animal the 
question as to whether or not George 
would live a long time. The great animal 
told him, “You will live until you are very 
old because I will be right with you.” 

That changed George’s mind, for he 
thought he had better live after all these 
ten days of hardship which he had passed 
through looking for a place to die. He 
changed his mind and was going to live 
longer, for the great bear told him that 
he would live for a long, long time; that 
he was stronger than all other totems and 
George really thought so at the time. He 
really believed that he had the strongest 
totem of any other Indian living. 

You can see two acts on the pole, 
a man and the bear. Had there been 


room on the pole, the sea otter would be 
in on the right side of the great bear. 
After that George thought he had better 
go home, for he had learned a great to¬ 
tem, Chad-club, and thought that he was 
going to be one of the great men again. 
He thought he better live and show the 
people what he had found after his wife 
died. He is about 75 years old. 

VII. The Two Lucky Totems. 
Billy Edwards. 

HIS totem was learned by Billy 
Edwards about 60 years ago at 
Guemes Island. The two lucky 
totems told him at the time that they 
were lucky totems for four years only. 
That means that he will play the tunes 
that these two lucky totems taught him 
for four years and after that he need not 
play the tunes unless he uses the lucky 
totems to find something that is lost or 
person that is missing. These totems 
were charged up with electricity by 
the people—the more people the stronger 
the charge. When it was in action Billy 
Edwards claimed that they can lead a 
strong man, no matter how strong he 
might be, and pull him around, and all 
that he could do would be to just hold 
on and this totem would lead him 
around the room. It makes signs and 
that is the way they find anything that 
is missing; all by the signs of the great 
little totems. That is the way the In¬ 
dians usually do at any of their large 
gatherings. 

Thesp totems can find anything that 
has been lost for some time and the old 
man has been doing that ever since the 
time he became a man. For the past 
five years Billy has been having a gath¬ 
ering each year at Guemes Island for his 
lucky totems to show the people that his 
totem is with him right along, and that 
he was a lucky old man all the time. 
He always feeds them and gives them a 
good time while they are there at his big 
Indian house. Billy Edwards is about 
85 years old. 



INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


11 


VIII. The Bear. 

John Gasper. 

OHN GASPER lived near the Snoh¬ 
omish River until he was a boy of 
about ten. From the time he could 
understand, his father taught him so he 
would become a powerful man and live 
long. One day he went out to a little 
hill right by the river thinking that there 
might be some totem in that place. 
While there on this little hillside he 
wondered what to do and where to go 
next. When about ready to move to the 
next hill he heard a noise that sounded 
just like a tree breaking or falling. He 
hesitated awhile; wondered what to do; 
whether to go and see what was there 
making all this noise. Then he heard a 
heavy breathing sound like if it were 
some big animal, so he thought he had 
better go to that place and find out what 
it was. 

When he got there he saw a bear play¬ 
ing on a cedar tree. The bear would 
jump down, run away from the tree, run 
back and see how high he could jump up 
on the tree, continue traveling up to the 
very top of the tree as fast as he could, 
then down to the ground again, to repeat 
the same act. John Lay-whah-hud went 
right up near where the bear was. He 
thought maybe the great animal was show¬ 
ing something that is great, yet at the 
same time he doubted it for he was noth¬ 
ing but an animal. At the same time he 
went right up near this tree and as he 
stood there the bear came, tearing down 
limbs and bark from the tree looking very 
angry. John thought sure he was a goner 
for a while until the animal spoke the 
human language. “I am a bear” he said, 
“ljut I can speak any language for I am 
a great totem. I am glad to see you my 
Indian boy; I am now playing all my acts 
and if you are looking for a totem 
I will be with you. I want you to lehfn 
all my plays to show that I am a power¬ 
ful animal. I am an old bear but I am a 
totem animal and can outclass any other 
totem. I can put fire in my mouth, yet it 
will never hurt me. I can bite and chew 


any other animal and bleed until they are 
badly chewed up. Nothing can hurt me. 
Now I will go up on the tree for another 
play.” Up the tree he went, tearing of! 
the bark and traveling so fast one could 
hardly see him go. John watched him 
closely and as he reached the top he 
grabbed a great big snake. He held the 
animal by the tail, which shows that 
the bear is greater than the big black 
snake, for he got him by the tail and held 
the snake down and was ready to eat 
him up. When the snake disappeared 
the bear came down and told the boy that 
he would be very glad to be with him if 
the boy would have him. John told him 
that he would be glad to have him for a 
totem for that was what he was looking 
for; one that would carry him safely any¬ 
where he might go. 

The bear started singing his tune and 
showed another act of how he could put 
fire right into his mouth, chew that fire 
until it had gone out without hurting him 
a bit while singing his tunes; the same 
tunes that John Gasper will sing any 
time. The great totem bear taught him 
this tune and John has tried to show the 
people that his totem is with him. At 
any big gathering he sings the tunes the 
great bear taught him and at the same 
time puts the fire in his mouth. After 
that he really believes that his totem was 
sure and also believes that he is as power¬ 
ful a man himself. 

The last word the bear said when they 
separated was “You will be a great man; 
you will be a powerful man, who will live 
until you are of old age for I am a great 
old bear myself.” Gasper is about 100 
years old now. He is a member of the 
Snohomish tribe and feels that he is go¬ 
ing to live for another hundred years. 

IX. The Indian Totem. 

Charley Bah-lolh. 

MONG the mountains up the 
Skagit River Bah-lolh’s father and 
brothers went out hunting for sev¬ 
eral days. Bah-lolh was fasting; noth¬ 
ing was given him to eat and he was never 




INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


12 

told what to do. The boy often wonder¬ 
ed what his father was going to do with 
him. The rest were having a fine time 
eating venison elk meat, but never offer¬ 
ing any to the boy. Finally his father 
told him that he should go out to a nice 
clean place around these mountains and 
look for a totem. So Charley Bal-lolh 
thought to himself that he better go out 
away to the cold mountain and find a place 
to die. But anyhow, he thought to him¬ 
self that he would go out to find some¬ 
thing for a totem. He went up the moun¬ 
tain, right amongst the rocks, where a 
little stream flowed down the mountain 
side. 

He kept wondering when he was going 
to meet some kind of a spirit. The 
next morning he heard a sound like a 
person singing a nice Indian tune coming 
down from the mountain. He listened 
and found out that it was an Indian man 
with a fur blanket over .his back, with 
two feathers on his head and two beating 
sticks in his hands. He went toward him 
when all of a sudden the man disappeared. 
He wondered where he had gone and 
thought to himself that he had lost the 
great spirit. He was determined to stay 
and take chances that the Indian man 
might return. All that day nothing 
was heard; not until the following morn¬ 
ing did he hear that same tune, a won¬ 
derful song, coming down from the same 
place. The boy thought surely the man 
will stop and talk to me after I have 
been here all this time, so he watched him 
coming closer and closer. As the great 
Indian man came nearer, the boy raised 
his hand and called him, saying that he 
was there all this time waiting for him. 

The great spirit came down to the 
young man and told him that he was a 
totem of this mountain; that he was glad 
to meet the young boy; began, to tell his 
action; taught the boy his ways of saying 
and dancing; that he would be with the 
young Indian boy as long as he lived; 
that he had this fur blanket over his 
head and beating sticks in his hands to 
show that he had a play of his own. He 
started singing the best tune; the very 


same tune he sang coming down the 
mountain side. Charley listened very 
closely to what he was told. 

He told the boy that. “Whenever you 
make a totem stick I want you to carve 
me on the stick just as I am and be sure 
not to forget the two beating sticks with 
the marks around them.” On the totem 
pole one can see the great man with the 
blanket on his back, feathers on his head, 
beating sticks in his hands, and Charley 
Bah-lolh really believes that the great 
totem is with him. He depends on the 
great spirit and expects to live happy. 
Every time he gets lonesome he sings the 
song of the totem. Charley Bah-lolh is 
about 75 years old and is always happy. 
The great totem encourages him to be 
happy and good as long as he lives. 

X. The Eagle. 

HE eagle is the largest bird and is 
well known to the Indians. The 
eagle is governor of all those totems 
there. It does not matter where you may 
see the eagle, it always stands at the top. 
Whenever they make their nests they al-' 
ways build them on the tops of the tallest 
trees. The Indians always think quite a 
lot of the eagle for it is a big, brave and 
powerful bird. 

XL Two Indian Girls. 

Bilkadub. 

ILLKADUB, or George Williams, 
was a boy 15 or 16 years old. He 
came from big Indian people, Indi¬ 
an doctors and respected people. His 
father often told him that they were well 
respected and well known, and that he 
didn’t want a lazy bov around. “You 
must do the way I did when a boy and 
he could prove that if the boy would do 
what was right, but not to cheat. When 
you are told to go out in the night time 
to a certain point or place, you must get 
there, not go half way and come back 
telling me that you have been to the 
place where I told you to go. I don’t 
want you to do that. If you do that, 




INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


13 





people will have no use for you. You 
are no good, nobody will like you. You 
will be unlucky as long as you live with 
nothing added to your name.” So he 
told his boy to get out and look for some 
kind of a great spirit. 

The boy started to follow the advice 
of his father and went out during the 
spare time that he could get to go around. 
One of the places that he went to was a 
place they called Noo-whah-hah. There 
he went back in the woods right by a 
little river, wondering if he was going to 
meet this great totem. He went two or 
three times but never met a totem of any 
kind, so he went again another day and 
stayed until the next morning. This 
time he heard a noise sounding through 
the air, a good song, just like as if it were 
real human people singing. He thought 
it couldn’t be on land. He Would listen 
but couldn’t guess where. Finally he 
knew where it was. It was these two 
girls from the East just over the moun¬ 
tains coming down to the West. He 
thought of what his father had told him; 
that it might be a great totem of skah-lal- 
lee-toot. There they came, lower and 
lower toward him. They stopped right 
where he was and he talked to these girls, 
told them that he had been out looking 
for a skah-lal-lee-toot of some kind. The 
girls told him that they were gamblers. 
•‘We are full of fun, play of all kinds. 
We are on our way to the West to play 
a game by the name of slah-halub. These 
are gambling sticks. You can see these 
little spears we have on the right side and 
on the left. We use these great little 
arrows to guess with while playing, and 
if you want a good, lucky ska-lal-lee-toot 
we are to be with you if you want us. 
You will be a great gambler and nobody 
will beat you, for we will be there to do 
the playing for you. The people wont 
see us, but we will be there to do the 
playing just the same.” They taught 
him. a song to be used for this game slah- 
halub, and showed him the little round 
sticks for use in playing and how to use 
them. 

Billkadub believed that they were a 


Tulalip Totem Pole 
East Side 


14 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


good lucky totem and he followed their 
gambling game before the white people 
came to this country. He really believes 
that these great little women are with 
him all the time to encourage him to be 
happy every day, and you can see the two 
great women on the pole standing side by 
side with the little spears in their hands. 

XII. Man and Canoe. 

Else Andrew. 

W HILE at his uncles at Chehalis 
Andrew was looking for a totem. 
He was an orphan boy and went 
to strange places. Once on a time he came 
out to a lake where he stayed for two nights. 
On the second night he was walking 
around when he saw three people coming 
along in a canoe, a funny looking canoe, 
stubby on either end. They landed right 
where he stood and they said, “Are you an 
Indian?” Andrew said “yes”. These three 
men landed, run their canoe on the shore 
and the man that was on the bow walked 
right up to him and told Andrew that 
they were totems; that he had this great 
gambling bone in his hand and that 
Andrew must remember what the totem 
said. “We will give you this gambling 
bone to use for playing the Indian game 
slah-halub. It is only one, but it will do 
just the same as two, as they generally 
have to play with.” They taught him 
the tune that he will use while playing the 
game slah-halub. So Andrew is quite a 
gambler himself, is known as a gambler of 
these old Indian games, and seems to be 
lucky and believes in this great totem of 
his. This totem is said to be with him all 
the time. Andrew believes the totem is fit 
to be carved out on the totem pole and 
that is why you see the totem on the pole. 
Andrew himself is seen on the pole with 
his right hand raised and the gambling 
bone in his hand. Standing in the canoe 
beside him are the three man. The man 
on the bow of the canoe, the end toward 
the butt of the pole, was the man that 
gave Andrew the bone. 

Andrew is not very old. He is about 
60 years of age and a powerful man who 


expects to live quite a while yet, as his 
totem told him he would be a gambler 
until he reached old age. 

XIII. The Owl; Hock-hock. 
Gwahahdolch. 

HEN a young boy. Bob Gwaha- 
dolch went out into the wild 
woods near the mouth of the 
Snohomish River. After he had been 
gone several days he heard a sound that 
came from the ground that was strange to 
him. Come to find out it was a great 
stubby bird on a limb half way up a tree. 
The bird was talking its own language, 
saying something that Bob couldn’t un¬ 
derstand. Bob thought it was just a 
noise, but come to find out it was 
the bird’s language. Finally the bird 
used the Indian language to make Bob 
Gwahah dolch understand that he was a 
great bird. He was a night bird, one 
that no one could see in the day time. 
The bird knew that this boy Gwaha-dolch 
was looking for a powerful totem and that 
is why he showed himself half way up the 
tree waiting for Bob Gwahah-dolch. The 
bird said, “Now if you want a powerful 
totem I am here and I would like to be 
with you. If you want me I will come 
down there on the ground and teach you 
all my action, how I travel and how I 
could handle people and how I could cure 
sick people.” 

Bob said to him, “Yes, I wish you 
would come down, great bird, for 1 am 
having a hard time looking for a great 
totem like you.” Down to the ground he 
flew and started telling Bob his tune, how 
he travels at night, showed him how he 
will cure sick people and how powerful 
he was; showed him his claws, both front 
and rear, how he could grab and never 
let go. He had a little animal by the 
name of balk-katche, a mole. “This is 
my playmate”, he said, “just to show the 
people how quick I am for just as soon as 
balk-katche crawls out of the ground I 
will have him right there.” 

And so it shows on the totem pole, 
the great owl with the little animal right 



INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


15 


under his great claws to play with. He 
told Bob that whenever he carves a totem 
stick he must have the little animal under 
his great claws to show the people that 
he is a great, powerful bird as you see it 
on the totem pole. 

XIV. Indian Chief; Ya-bah-dad. 
Johnny Edge. 

OHNNY EDGE met this great totem 
of his down at La Conner before any 
white people had come there. He 
called himself Ya-bah-dad. He said 
that he was a totem that would like to be 
with some nice Indian boy. So Johnny 
told him that he was a boy that was 
looking for a chief totem, for he was a 
boy; that he would like to have the chief 
totem that would make a man out of him 
when he become of age. 

The totem told him that he had some 
great little things in a bag on his right 
side that you see on the pole. He said, 
“I will show you what I got in this bag. 
Here it is.” He pulled out some bones 
and showed them to Johnny and told 
him, "I’m not going to give you these 
bones. I only show them to you, that 
is enough. That will give you good luck 
and will make a man of yourself for I am 
a great chief totem, who is teaching you 
all his action that will lead you to be a 
good man. You will have no trouble 
of any kind with your people. All 
the Indians from other different tribes 
will respect you and will think quite a 
lot of you, for I am a great chief totem 
that is going to be with you for all 
time. 

He told Johnny Edge that if he should 
carve a totem he should carve a man with 
a bag on his side, hair braided, face paint¬ 
ed red, wearing a fine fur coat, to show 
the people that you have a great chief 
totem. “Always think about me what¬ 
ever you do and wherever you go, for I 
am going to be with you from now on.” 
Johnny Edge is an Indian of the Swin- 
omish tribe and about 95 years old. He 
has been a very good man and believes 
that his totem is with him to encourage 


him to be a good man as long as he 
lives. 

XV. The Dog. 

Charlie Moses. 

HARLIE MOSES is a Skagit River 
Indian. This dog’s name is Skah- 
hahd. It is an Indian dog raised 
by the Indians before the white man 
reached here. This Charlie Moses, when 
quite a small boy, was taught by his 
father that there is a great spirit; that 
the young man would learn of it if he 
would do what his father told him. So 
one day this Charlie Moses went out hunt¬ 
ing for a totem. He met a dog. The 
dog had a partner. Ram Rod. It was 
something like a ram rod made of wood 
and this little rod had four wounds and 
was bleeding from these four wounds. 
While Charlie Moses stood and looked at 
him the dog seemed to walk right up to 
him and pretty soon the dog asked him if 
he was looking for a great totem. Char¬ 
lie told him yes, that he would like to 
meet a strong, powerful totem, and this 
dog mentioned his name Skah-hahd. “I 
am great,” he said, “I do the suffering for 
my partner, Ram Rod. This little rod 
is wounded and I am doing the suffering 
for him. So if I am going to be with you, 
you will be a powerful man. You can 
endure all wounds. I will do the suffer¬ 
ing for you if you should get wounded 
just like I do my little partner, Ram Rod. 
So don’t be afraid. I am going to be with 
you. If you should get in a war go right 
ahead, don’t be afraid of a wound. Then 
if you should make a totem you want to 
cut out a dog like myself with my little 
partner, Ram Rod. 

XVI. White Owl and Half Snake 
Priest Point Joe. 

T HE white owl and half-snake are 
partners. They are for doctoring. 
The White owl claims that he is a 
powerful bird and the snake claims that 
he was a powerful snake and shows that 
he is now. 




16 


INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


He was cut right in two, half is gone, 
but still he could do the work just as well. 
So the two together met Joe when he was 
yet a boy and showed the boy what they 
could do to cure sick people. The snake 
could cure any wound and the bird could 
cure any other sickness so the two togeth¬ 
er would work and would beat all other 
totems. The white totem shows it right 
there. See how brave it is grabbing the 
big animal right on the nose, and the big 
snake right by it? Priest Point Joe died 
when about 100 years old. He had been 
doctoring, using these same totems before 
his death. If any person would get sick 
from other totems these two would cure 
that person because they claimed that they 
were stronger than any other totems. 

XVII. Good-Luck Totem. 

Little Sam Sad-at-sut. 

T HIS represents a good, kind, harm¬ 
less totem. It leads to good luck. 
Little Sam met this good luck to¬ 
tem at Chehalis. He was working with 
a white man that came first about 60 years 
ago and Sam was left at the camp all alone 


watching some thing that the white man 
had. So he thought that while waiting 
he had better go out and look for a totem 
in a strange country like that, and he did 
so. There he met this big Indian man 
with two feathers on his head, a bow in 
one hand and a bone in the other. The 
great totem told him that he was a lucky 
man. He was a hunter and a gambler. 
He calls the game that he plays slah-hal. 
Sam talked with him and told him that 
he was looking for a totem like that. So 
the great man told him that he must be 
with him all the time and that he would 
lead him to be lucky in playing slah-hal; 
that he will be lucky and will be a hunter 
if he wants to. He taught Little Sam 
how to beat the time for this tune while 
playing the game slah-hal. In his earlier 
days Sam was known as a gambler as well 
as a hunter. 

XVIII. War Totem; Stobach- 
Shadad; Jack Cladoosby. 

ACK CLADOOSBY and his parents 
were travelling in a canoe when a 
big storm came up while on the west 




Tulalip Indians Grouped at base of the Tulalip Totem Pole. 

RD 2 .8 





INDIAN TOTEM LEGENDS BY AN INDIAN 


17 


side of Whidby Island and they landed 
and camped on the beach at the straits. 
That evening Jack Cladoosby went for a 
trip along the beach. The tide was low, 
the wind strong and cold, and the swells 
high, breaking right onto the sand. 
Cladoosby had been running for about 
three or four miles along the edge of this 
sand bar when he met a great little man. 
He had feathers all around him, feathers 
on his head, feathers around his waist and 
one in either hand. Cladoosby thought 
to himself that that is just what he had 
been looking for. He stopped and watch¬ 
ed the little man coming. The little 
man would go up on the sand bar and 
jump right over the big swells right into 
the bay. He was acting just like as if he 
could travel through the air if he wished. 
So Cladoosby ran up toward him, head¬ 
ed him off and stopped him. 

Cladoosby could hear a wonderful noise 
which he thought was some great animal, 
but come to find out it was this little man 
making all this wonderful noise that he 
heard. 

He thought that this man was just what 
he wanted. He asked the little fellow if 
he could stop and have a talk with him 
for a while. There stood Stobach-shadad 
with his feathers all about him. The 
whole sand bar seemed to shake. Jack 
asked if he was a great totem. The little 
man, said "I am Stobach-shadad; my 
name is Stobach-shadad, who could’nt be 
beat. I live on people. As you stop¬ 
ped me I will tell you what I am and you 
can have Stobach-shadad, for I will be 
yours and I will be with you. I live on 
people’s heads, and I like to kill them. 
The more I kill the better I feel. Now 
if any trouble or war should break out, 
don’t be afraid. You plow ahead. Go 
and kill all the people. You feast on 
their heads for I am going to be with you, 
to protect you if you should get wounded. 
I will be the one to do the suffering. 
You are not going to do the suffering. 
I will be the one that is wounded, and if 
you should cut out a totem stick I wish 
you would cut the stick just the way I am. 
Mark all my feathers and mark the two 


big spots on my breast, they are to charm 
enemies; that is what they are for, and I 
want you to cut the totem just as I am and 
make a big animal with a big mouth that 
would swallow people, though never get 
full, for that is the way I feel to all my 
history.” 

As you see on the pole now, the great 
little man is standing on the big animal 
which has a man in his mouth with noth¬ 
ing but his feet sticking out with plenty 
of room -inside for more Indians. That 
is the way the great Stobach-shadad feels, 
so if any war should break out it doesn’t 
matter how weak old Cladoosby may be, 
he will be too glad to show his powerful 
totem. He will be the first one to step 
forward, that is the way he feels any time. 
The great totem is with him day after day. 
Cladoosby is about 85 years old; he ex¬ 
pects to live until he is 100 years or long¬ 
er, just as long as he can hear his great 
totem Stobach-shadad. 

XIX. Fighting Totem. 

Sam Wyakes. 

AM WYAKES met this little man 
who told him that he was great, 
brave, and would live on blood. He 
could cut himself up and drink his own 
blood. He told Sam Wyakes that if he 
was looking for a totem he could tell Sam 
how he is going to act and teach him his 
songs, tunes and different ways of dancing. 
He showed Sam that he had wounds. 

He was a great little man to brag that 
he was a powerful totem. He told Sam 
Wyakes that he was going to be with him; 
that Sam was going to live a long time 
because he was going to protect him and 
Sam must sing that tune and dance it 
right just as he told him to do it. So 
Sam has been doing as the great little 
man told him. That totem is not 
anything for good luck, but rather to be 
mean, tough, and he could brag all be 
wanted to because he had a great little 
totem. The totem shows it right there 
standing on a great shark’s head. It 
shows how great he really is, using the 
great shark for a foundation. 




This pamphlet was executed in the Printing Department 
of the Chilocco Indian School; 
by students 














































































































o '«>.»'* A <\ * s <G V 

°o A C°* > 

*. 0* 

' jP-a .£ °^ 

O ^ \KyjJ • 0 J. * /ik O ^ 

Oj. * . , . • . 0 'V * . , > • Oj. * 

'- % A A « v .' - '* ° 

*“ A .A*-. * 




< - ' .. * 

A* ,oJ^ % 

*b K • 






° x9 

» « 0 a° * ' 1 A 

. ,<y *'*°+ > 

' \/ .^: .* 



* 

** <g? ^ °. 



A 'V o w/to; a-^A 

^ °y^\F 4 ^ ^ 

. »- A <* .G A A *'7V* 4 <G . 

^ c o * 0 * <£. o^ ^ • L # • ^ o o 0 w 0 * ^ 0^ t « 11 9 * o ^ 

- °KvA!lBl" a . <*- A 



A° 



O V 


* ' z ty/jy^ r * »v 

V *"’■’^ o * 

• O^ ^ </ ****/• C* 4 

> - A *V($ifctf‘. V A* 4 ' / 



^o 



o V 








o W 0 


4 C> 

v -a/ ^ * 

^ ~ ~zyy/!P<& * x % ^ * 

' ^ v" A’Aa C- , 

\ A/ ;•£»•- * 

/ .G S V ° 0 

iv^> * ojv ^ ^ * 

a <v 9 * '°‘* , ‘ ^ <* 4 '''r/*' , 

4 ^ C 0 " ° 4 <^v 0^ # L ‘ * -9 ^O A ^ C ° N ° -• '^Av 

^ /^W- ^ c u O A ^ 





s/fll 'Jr n 

;lr<&* > 

^ * 

^ % 

• 


\ 

%\ % 






* 

» A V ° 

4 * ^ ° 

'l C 

G° *Vv?^*,- o J 

•>* .-^ 

“ o V 

O ^0 

* 0 


\p vV 

*> v vA* «t 

0 “j ^ 

° ^° * 

4,0 ***'"' /* V 4 - ^' 4 , <*Vv 


o * O « 0 ’ A 0 


>. ^5 ^ 

♦ r ^ 


^ * * * 1 ‘ A v 

^ -v jV «♦*# 


9 • 



A 


r;* X V VSJ&V .<5? X 


/\'° ' * \^>\ O - . 1 ' ' */%'' T ^ . . - • ’ S ^°t« ' ' • 3 

?V *° X;^^’/ v|§> 1,0 X‘llt'/ X# 


A 


^ S> 

<v .» * o^ S 


> V . *Lx 4> c\ *0 V *«**>*'*> V * * V/ 

/jSfef- *<&.>* .fc. ^ *♦ > vsfc» - <&. * 

S!*<V *~ vJ>£ ? 8 <• ,nC.' 

*S. ' 


'U 

cv -0 

■**’ • ;»« w :^3R: ^ 

-* °wjm: A\ '-mm" #*\ °»wm?: A\. 

* 7 * 77 , ,o^ X *'••»• A <, A* X 'o..* A <v 

* - Sf> o^ t • 1 1 * * 0 0 c 0 " ° •* t • 1 ' * * ^o ^ c 0 M ° * < 

:£$%!&;. ~ 0 £ (SMS- S.,*'* *'■ 


‘. V. o' 


* .V 


X O V 



* 0v X ** 


°+_'** T **' *°' ... \/*^ T ’\A... °V*^' -°° 


■. r ^ o* 

*♦ 



o V 

'.• S- 0 ^ Vi 

♦»■ V*^ T \< 

.0 * **°' ^ V 



* aV«a -* 
'£. fflW * aV *Ss 

So * ^^ ■* ^ ^ 

S*> 'o . , * 


\V ^ - ^ * ■ • <v 

V So jlO .’••* > V s*^L% So w - - . 

? *<£!&»'• %■ A .‘AVr. .*^fe*v %./ 

._*• <X z $B&/\ 

.\ %'‘'‘'/•iL , *\ , "''o 4< ’ .-*. S 

. ■» v> j «■ • _rw<v . <* v* <*. v . l .„/>^-, ■» o »_r-^<\ _ *■ *r fy «■ 

-o/ • 

'• / \ ^ / .. % ^ / -o* -.T.• + 

^ 4V^. ^ ^ 


V :< 

V s 
A 


o 

* °- $ Sl^Z*+ ^ <*° v t*' /v ^7, A" ^ 

*>>& •«i^80k-. ++# 




O v 

“ i°y. v 



JT o. 





5?^ 

VW.o^ v v - 

L'.V c°,‘ 


v ->aE»,* W '•« 






.0^ A A <. ^ '«*.*’* A <. 

♦ ’A, 0^ •*■'*-» *^0 A G O " ® « So 0^ •*■'*-» ^O <A 0 0 " ® « 


•: **o« 



O J'O’ 

^ X % 

o V 


;° • 
0^> 



Sk 

X A 

, +0 A x 
* ° ^ / 


r. 


V 

i t0 * 
,•1°^ . 


• ^ *’ 

V So **V1% So > V % 

^ /^sfe*-, \<? .*^&'- \A * ^% '- \<? S^Mm - \A ■ 

'* *<, A ■'••••* ^ **^K’ 0^ A 

- v --vmv** 0° r.° .t- 

X°* ' > ^^^^>°* V 

°* ^0° ^ ^°° °X^ oTo, X ( 

/ VaVa\ \X ..^fr., \ /° \X \ /°. 

.,v *' * */°V ■ • *X*° ’ ’ X-‘ • ■ • *x * ■ ‘X * “ • %\'° ■ ■ •* • < ^ 

hcd!^yy0*/£^x-S;^ 

<* .••flb'-. %/ .-iSKfc W •»•: \/ :•»•. %/ 



^ V 



\ 
s. 



r / ^ X • 


A 



- * ^ o^^/CeCxV^* AV 'Jv • 

<». *-•••/.A '••*• -^ < 


I ,"%/ -Waa. < t0V '^^X / »S^'-X t c °’^:*' 

r.o’/3tS“IPv^ 


». 

fi* ,0^ ^ 


", ,0 O 

■<>. ^ .I'** ^ 


a 9* . I 


r X^sikX ,/4 va\X .^ v V^'X../ 




























